Gabriel Tyler Oloya-The living arrow of God

In 1923,Kahlil Gibran, penned these words on children in  The Prophet

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backwards nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the  path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrow may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.


These words echoed and continue to echo in my mind from the 6th of July 2012 when our third son, Gabriel Tyler Oloya, was born into this world.
Our lives have, for a third time, been tailored around our Gaby. He is a delight to have. Our joy, like that of countless parents out there, knows no bounds.

In the midst of the screaming, shouting, crying and yelling, that smile that steals through his innocent face, lights  up any room and like a  hot knife through butter, melts any heart.It is at such moments that one thinks of the future that awaits this living arrow of God.

As parents anywhere will tell you, we all want the very best for our children and will go to great lengths to ensure that they are comfortable. That the path we have chosen for them will lead them into their dream lives.

More often than not, we are the result of our parents wishes, dreams and desires. Rarely do parents decipher and construct a system that amplifies the wishes of the child. Maybe because a child's wish is like a monkey. On one tree this minute and on the next in the next second.

The parents then decide that it is best that they fashion a system that is more predictable. Sadly that system is passed on from generation to generation. It does not allow for individuality. It promotes band wagon thinking as opposed to individual brilliance. It is a system that gives life to phrases like, ...like father like son. The fruit does not fall far away from the tree. You are a chip off the old block and so on...

When you consider the words of the Lebanese sage, certain truths hit home. Only God knows what is in store  for it is He who...sees the mark upon the path of the infinite...it is God, who in this particular case, has fashioned Gabriel in such a way that he will fulfil his role on this beautiful earth. As parents, we can only provide such circumstances that will permit the flowering of Gods chosen design.

We are the bows that will unleash Gabriel into the path that God, in His infinite wisdom, has seen fit to lay in his heart.

As we bend like flexible bows that ensure that the flight of the arrow is straight and true, one cannot help but ask God to ensure that Gabriel Tyler Oloya grows up with the gentility,grace and beauty that flows in his mothers blood.  May this arrow of God spread hope and joy. May his smile echo in the hearts of all.

Like that sure arrow in the quiver,  may he slice through the air and land in the bulls eye of his dreams.